Dear Gusta-Bear,

You are 3 years old today!!! In some ways the last 3 years have flown by, and in other ways, it's hard to remember life before you were here. You are turning into the cutest, sweetest, most precious 3 year old little girl, and you continue to capture the hearts of your daddy and I. You crack us up daily with your little phrases and expressions, and you are so much fun to be around!

I think that if I could pick one day in my life to go back and re-live, it would be the day you were born. I still look back and think about how perfect that day was, and often long to repeat it. As soon as you were born, I remember needing a moment to process what had just happened. It was an amazing thing to watch my lifelong dream come true before my very eyes, and I still look at you and wonder how God allowed me to be so lucky to be your Mommy!

Since last year, you have nearly transitioned from being a baby to being a little girl. Shortly after your little sister was born, you decided it was out with the crib and in with the big girl bed. Thank you, baby, for making that an easy move! After a couple of failed attempts, you asked to sleep in the "green room" one night while Daddy was working. I was sure it wouldn't last, but you've been in that room ever since!

Your vocabulary has grown in amazing ways, too. You can now carry on a conversation like a little adult, and you love to say the prayer at dinner. You alternate between "God is Great" and the song, "God our Father." The first few times you said the prayer it went a little something like, "God is good. Wank us for our food. By His hands, all are fed. Jesus bread. Amen."

You've perfected your ABC's this year and can count to 15 or 20. You can spell your name (when we practice with the letters above your bed), and are learning how to recognize letters now. You went to a little "school" 2 mornings a week, and really seemed to enjoy it. You loved Ms. Susan and Ms. Pam, your teachers.

Oh yeah, and you became a big sister this year, too! You were so cute in the hospital when she was born. You were absolutely mesmerized by her, and you were carried away screaming "baby" after you met her, not wanting to leave. I've been pleasantly surprised at how kind you are to her. You share your toys with her most of the time, and love to play with her now that she can crawl with you around the house. In the mornings, you get so excited and say "Abby Kate's awake!" when you hear her over the baby monitor.

We recently tackled potty training, and you are doing pretty well with that. We're not quite in big girl panties, yet, because you refuse to have a "bum" in the potty. You tee-tee very well, though, unless you get too busy playing and don't want to stop. For some reason, you don't mind using the potty at all around bedtime, and you've figured out that if you tell us you need to potty, you don't get in trouble for getting out of bed at night. This has caused a bit of a parenting dilemma for Mommy :)

You went to Disney World for the first time this year and had a blast! It took you a couple of days to get accustomed to everything, but by our final night there, you were excitedly yelling out all of the characters at the parade. You are very much into Disney movies right now - your favorites are Toy Story, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and The Emperor's New Groove!

You are not sleeping quite as well as you used to, and I'm not sure why that is. You can go without a nap if we are busy, but you either get very emotional and fussy or crazy wild around dinnertime. If you have a nap, you refuse to go to sleep until 11pm. If you don't have a nap, you go right to sleep, but wake up much earlier than I would like, and you seem fussy and tired most of the day. You've also been waking up and coming to get us in the middle of the night. Sometimes I wonder if you're learning to be scared in a room all by yourself, and I hope that passes quickly for you. Other times I wonder if it's just a phase that goes along with the other transitions going on in your little life right now (such as the potty training and increased behavior expectations).

One thing is for sure, and that is I am so very thankful God gave you to us 3 years ago, today. I absolutely love being your Mommy, and nothing thrills my heart like your sweet kisses and hugs (even if you're trying to stall bedtime :)!

I love you!

Mommy

p.s. - I'll do my best to post pictures of your Toy Story party later today!

Summertime: Busy in a Good Way

Hey guys! We're still here, and doing well most days. I am getting an opportunity to fine-tune my "taking-care-of-the-kids-most-of-the-time-by-myself-skills" due to some unfortunate scheduling issues with Cline's job. Dare I say, I'm getting the hang of it?? Actually, I've given myself an attitude adjustment recently. I have a bad habit of comparing myself to other moms, rather obsessively, and I've felt very overwhelmed lately, for no good reason. I often envy other moms who have more kids than I do, and seem so calm and collected every time I see them. I feel guilty that I'm only taking Christa to the park or the water fountains once or twice a week, while other moms pack a picnic and do that kind of thing every day, somehow without the 2 hour preparation I have to put into it! At any rate, I've been working on being less stressed and panicked (or at least pretending to be), and the last couple of days have been good. I've had a little time to myself in the evenings to get a few things done and unwind, and I've spent the days doing fun things with my kids.

Speaking of my kids, they're growing faster than I can keep up with. Christa is doing great with the potty training, and is now telling me when she needs to go. Woo-hoo! Abby Kate is exploring the world, and sneaking Cheerios into her mouth every chance she gets. They're keeping me on my toes, and have both been a little finicky with their sleep, waking up early, and resisting naps. Somehow, we all seem to be getting enough rest, though. We're doing fewer "organized activities" and more personal play dates, and I'm enjoying having a decent amount of "unscheduled time" during the week to have last minute fun!

Not much news, other than that. I'll get some new pictures posted soon. Have a great day!

It's Potty Time!

Hey guys! We've been busy in a different way this week... I decided to go ahead and tackle the potty-training. Whew - parenting is hard work! But my big girl is doing great!

After we returned home for Disney last week (I miss it already) we wrapped up Christa's "school" year with a Circus. It was adorable -her class did a little routine to The Lion King's "I Just Can't Wait to be King." The very next day, it was out with the diapers and in with the big girl pants! After we went through 4 pairs of underwear in an hour that first morning, I had some doubts. But by day 3, Christa wasn't having any accidents, unless it involved (insert your choice word for #2). We have not had any success going #2 on the potty, and I'd appreciate any suggestions. Nonetheless, I am beyond proud of her for catching on to the other, and we're starting to venture out of the house again, which is nice.

Abby Kate is keeping me hopping these days, too. She has discovered that she can put the tiniest little crumbs, papers, etc. into her mouth, and boy does she! She's into everything, and there are very few contraptions that she hasn't figured out how to wiggle her way out of yet. She even crawls right out of her bathtub seat, which kept Christa safely contained until around 18 months! She smiles so much, though, that it's hard to get upset with her for being so "high maintenance." She's also sleeping through the night plus taking a couple of good naps during the day, so I'll happily put up with her curiosities as long as she keeps that up! There was a day, not so long ago, that I thought she'd never sleep on a schedule.

Well, my older daughter has figured out that if she asks to go "tee-tee," it will significantly delay her bedtime, so I'm going to go try and get her to sleep sometime before midnight, I hope :) Have a great week!

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Since the kids were doing so wonderfully the other three days, we decided to try out Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) on our last day. It was a great choice with sooooo much to do. We saw Playhouse Disney Live, The Little Mermaid, and other great things! Christa had a blast, as did the rest of us!

The Sci-Fi Drive-In Restaurant. I remember eating here with my family as a child, and they are still playing the exact same clips on the screen! We were fortunate to get in, since we didn't have an advance reservation, and it was a favorite for several of us!

Christa at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.

Uncle Chris tried out for the American Idol experience about 10 minutes before auditions closed. He made it, so we got VIP passes to the show! That's him on the left. Unfortunately, he didn't win, but it was a lot of fun watching him perform!

Getting ready for the character dinner with Cinderella!

Abby Kate enjoyed herself, too!

Disney's fairy tales really messed with my head during my dating years, so I feel a little guilty already teaching my little girl about them! But princesses are so fun and girly, I just can't resist!

Someday her prince will come...

Disney's Animal Kingdom

We took a day off to swim at the hotel and rest up some, and then headed over to the Animal Kingdom! We did lots of fun things, including a live show of Finding Nemo, The Lion King, and a parade!
We started the morning off with breakfast with Mickey Mouse! We started planning this trip a little over a month ago, so we were fortunate to get in to a character breakfast at all! Christa was a little fussy this particular morning for some reason, but she was excited about seeing Mickey Mouse!

This is the new Everest roller coaster, which Cline and his brothers got to ride on. It's pretty impressive looking from the outside!

We got to stay at the park after-hours, so the lines for the characters were pretty short. We met Goofy and saw Pluto again (he was at breakfast)!

I took Christa to meet Minnie Mouse while the boys rode a few adult rides.

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Hey guys! We just got home from a wonderful trip to Disney World, and I have several posts to tell you all about it! I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how well things went. This year, Cline and I are both turning 30, and we just celebrated our 5 year anniversary, so we racked our brains to think of somewhere really special to go. I'm too chicken to leave the kids and fly anywhere, and we couldn't think of a good way to be away from them for more than a couple of days, so we decided to go to Disney World so that we could take the kids and be in a kid-friendly place. We went with the attitude that we probably wouldn't get to do *everything* and we would just be happy with what we did get to do. We decided to take Cline's 2 younger brothers with us because they are awesome company to have, and we knew they would be a big help with the girls. That made a HUGE difference, and the trip was so much better because of it. We got to do nearly everything we hoped and more, and it turned out to be the trip of a lifetime after all! The kids did amazingly well without naps, and the crowds weren't too bad. It was truly magical, and I wasn't quite ready to leave yesterday. We spent a lot of time watching shows and parades and meeting characters, and Christa was really into it by our final day there. She enjoyed the first few days too, but had to take it all in, I think. By the parade on our final night, she was excitedly pointing at the characters and calling them by name while clapping and cheering! Abby Kate seemed to have a blast, and it was so nice to have plenty of people to take turns carrying kids and missing an attraction because of a sleeping baby. I had a hard time narrowing down my 306 pictures for you, but I tried. Enjoy!

Our first ride was the teacups..... which were a hit!

Visiting Minnie Mouse's House.

Two fine babysitters! They're both available, ladies :)

Christa chose "Toy Story" themed Mickey ears. I accidentally got an adult size, but she didn't seem to mind, and I'm not sure they made that design in a kid's size anyway. Here she is watching the show in front of Cinderella's Castle, and LOVING it! So, major sap alert here.... as we were watching the show, I couldn't help but remember my last trip to Disney, not so long ago (but before I had met Cline). I came with a good girlfriend, who got me through the "I've graduated college, but I'm no where near married, so what do I do now, AAAAGGGGHHHH" years. We sat in the exact same spot, and the Disney Princesses assured me that "dreams really do come true." At the time, it really spoke to me, and in that moment, I really believed I would be a wife and a mother one day. And 6 or so years later, there I was, watching a similar show with my husband and precious girls. I obviously don't credit Disney for any of it - it's all God - but it was still a nice moment, and I couldn't help but feel blessed beyond my wildest dreams.

Like I said, Abby Kate loved the show, too! Chris and Cleve sat with her off to the side, and they said she kept stretching to see and grinned the whole time.

This was my absolute favorite activity - they Magic Kingdom dance party! We caught the middle of it as we arrived to the park, and then an encore later in the day. They had great music, and a lot of the characters who danced with everyone. It was fantastic!

While we were there, we got to meet up with some good Augusta friends who now live in Orlando. It was great to see them, and we had a blast eating dinner and watching the nighttime parade and fireworks show.

Our happy group!

Watching the fireworks at the end of one of the best days ever!

A Day At the Park

This morning, I woke up to find Abby Kate like this:And then, later, when I walked into the playroom, I saw this:
She's been pulling up, but not quite this efficiently, until today! As squirmy as she is, I have a fear feeling she'll be walking before too long! I had 2 errands to run today - Hobby Lobby and the grocery store. Neither one got done. We had friends over to play this morning, and afterwards, when I told Christa it was time to go to the store, she replied, "we could go to the park or something." So we did. It was the right choice - I've had a great day with my girls today, and the errands can get done another time.

Christa loved pushing Abby Kate in the swing. Abby Kate laughed and laughed.

Both girls cracked up when I stood in front of them and let them pretend to kick me down. Abby Kate was just as amused as Christa was!

I just love it when Christa asks for me to play with her, and I can actually drop what I'm doing to oblige. My girls aren't going to be this little forever, and even though we spend a lot of time together, I do get caught up in the day to day "to-do list" more than I'd like. I am thankful for beautiful weather and the ability to do without snacks and juice for an extra day.

Going to rescue my crying Abby Kate now :)